A Twist in Her Story
by wretchedlyinlove
Summary: Bella is trapped in a loveless marriage. She fears she has completely lost herself. Can the new fine arts coordinator at the school she works for help her rediscover everything she thought was stolen from her? AU/AH.
1. Prologue Where Do We Go From Here?

**A/N: Hello There! This is the prologue. I know it's short but I needed a place to start. I am generally a fan of starting near the end.**

**Oh yeah, I don't own Twilight or any of its characters.**

**Prologue - Where Do We Go From Here?**

He ran his hand down the side of my face. His fingers trailed down my neck, across my collarbone, and down the length of my arm until his fingers were intertwined with mine. He pulled me closer until all I could feel was his breath on my lips. All I could hear was the beat of his heart. All I could be was his. His lips touched mine as he spoke. His beautiful voice barely reaching above a whisper.

"Bella, you have to leave him. Let me help you." He pressed his soft lips more firmly against mine. Every cell in my body tingled with the complete and utter rightness in my heart and the complete and utter wrongness in my conscience. A tear slipped down my cheek as I squeaked out my reply.

"Edward, I'm scared." He brought his lips down to my neck and ran them back up to my ear.

"I know baby. I love you so much. I promise to get you through this." The hand that was entwined in my hair slowly trailed down over my breasts and down past my past my navel. It moved over my hips and pulled me impossibly closer to his obvious arousal. The look in eyes was soft and loving, warm and wanting. I knew he meant every word he said and yet I still couldn't be sure it would be enough.

"Bella Please. I love you."

"I love you too." I so badly wanted it to be enough.

* * *

**A/N: Again, I know it was short but throw me a review and let me know if anyone is curious to find out who our two favorite lovers ended up here. Thanks!**

**Also, I am torn on the title. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. :)**


	2. Chapter 1 Grey Street

**A/N - Hi again! If anyone out there is cyber land is reading the song this chapter is named for is Grey Street by the Dave Matthews Band.**

**I don't own anything twilight related. Except for three copies of the movie. Anyone else get sucked in by all the different versions?**

Chapter 2 – Grey Street

_And she thinks...hey  
How did I come to this  
I dreamed myself thousand times around the world  
But I can't get out of this place  
There's an emptiness inside her  
And she'd do anything to fill it in  
But all the colors mix together  
To grey, and it breaks her heart_

"Ooh, that's it baby. Oh yeah." I focused all my energy on contorting my body in the appropriate fashion.

Back Arched – check

Contracting Muscles – check

Curled Toes – check

Heavy Breathing – check

He got up on his knees and scrunched his eyes together as he worked really hard. It was one more night of him having sex to me. I could tell he was close so I kicked the theatrics into high gear and completed the charade d'orgasm. Thanks to my own personal research I was fairly confident my performance was adequate if not Oscar worthy.

_Hm, I hope he finishes soon. Lost starts in a few minutes. God I hope he doesn't want to cuddle. _

He finally finished and did in fact try to cuddle. _Ugh._

I rolled off the bed and headed for a much needed shower. Unfortunately the water never managed to wash it all away.

"Bella that was amazing. We really should do that more often baby."

"Yeah Mike. Sure." _Not likely. _"I'm getting in the shower."

"I could join you."

"Uh.. no thanks. I'm good."

I try not to regret where I am now. Things weren't always this bad and if I'm being honest I haven't done much to fix anything. I'm the one who hasn't been strong enough to end this. I'm the one who has stuck around for years. I'm the one who isn't in love anymore.

******************

10 years ago I was a freshman in college. I was 17 and living 1200 miles away from all of my friends and family. I worked at the front desk of my dorm and through that met some great people. One of those people was Mike Newton. Mike was a Resident Assistant in the dorm and he was adorable. He was in his second year and he immediately took to me.

I didn't date in high school. I had lots of friends and I never felt like I was missing much not dating. It wasn't until Mike started pursuing me that I realized I wanted something more than friendship. He was charming and funny. No one had ever treated me the way Mike did and I fell for it. I crumbled like the stupid naïve teenager I was. That first year we spent a lot of time together in a big group of friends. We became close friends quickly and by fall of the next school year we were dating.

Things moved quickly between us and before I knew it we were living together. For a while things were great. We were in love and that was enough. Truthfully I never really enjoyed sex but he loved me so much. He loved me so much I thought the rest wasn't important.

At the end of his senior year, my junior, he got a job in Seattle. Being the good girlfriend I was I did the right thing. I did the appropriate thing; I agreed to move out there with him. I was so young, only 20 at the time, and I was essentially readjusting my life to fit his.

The summer after my junior year I had a chance to participate in an internship in London. I was so stupid. I turned it down. I instead spent my summer finishing up my undergraduate credits so I could graduate earlier. After all, if I graduated earlier I could join Mike sooner. I can't hate Mike for everything. I made plenty of mistakes all on my own.

While I didn't date in high school I was always surrounded by friends. I was social and fun and my friends loved me as I loved them. I was the hub in more than one social circle and I thrived. The moment I moved to Seattle all that changed. Actually, if I dig a little deeper I can be honest and admit that it all changed when Mike and I started dating. I didn't know how to do it right, I didn't know how to date. I ended up giving him all of my time and losing my friends as a result. Seattle simply put the nail in the coffin, moving me away from everyone I had ever known. I really was a fool.

Things continued to progress between Mike and I. I hated Seattle. I was lonely, I didn't have a job, and I didn't have anything except for Mike of course. I really tried to convince myself Mike was enough.

I took a couple of temp jobs, all of which ended badly. My favorite one was at a title company. I was the only one in the damn office with a college degree and I was told I would never progress in the company unless I wore more makeup. That was awesome. I couldn't find a job in my field, computer information systems, so I decided to go back to school. I joined a program that allowed me to get my teaching certificate while I taught at the same time. Once I started teaching I threw everything I had into it. I spent endless hours working on lessons or grading and I was appreciative of the outlet for my pent up energy. Mike started to get jealous of the time I was spending on my work.

I should have seen what was happening but I was still so blind to it all. He didn't see my exhaustion or my drive to be good at my job, he only saw someone that wasn't spending enough time with him. We fought about it a few times before I finally caved. I started waking up early to work so that I could spend my nights with Mike. I was barely sleeping and I was beyond exhausted but at least the fighting stopped.

During the fall semester in my first year of teaching he proposed. It was this grand affair with roses, limos, and private dinners on intimate roof tops. I of course said yes, it was after all the appropriate response. It didn't really worry me at the time when I didn't cry at his sweet words or run to call everyone I knew. It didn't strike me as odd that I waited for two years before I even allowed us to discuss an actual wedding. I never gave it a second thought when I just didn't care what the reception looked like. I thought I was being me, cool, calm and unaffected.

Things started to change for me after the wedding. Things started to click in my head. I didn't completely understand everything yet but I was starting to. Things in my brain were starting to shift. Years of doing things for other people, of doing things because they were the right thing to do, came crashing down on me. It started with my name. I used to think I wanted his name; I wanted my husband's last name. When the time came to actually take it, I freaked the fuck out. I resented the idea of giving up my name along with everything else. I was, _am_, Bella Swan, NOT Bella Newton. I gave up everything I ever wanted for him, I couldn't give me name too. This of course led to more fighting. He cried, ugh.

I eventually gave in, sort of. I told him I would take his name and crossed my fingers behind my back. I knew I would never actually complete the name changing process and he would never push me to either. All the while we were fighting about my name I never once mentioned the fact that we hadn't sent our marriage license in to be recorded by the state.

The next brick fell soon after. I always wanted a family of my own. My parents were so great I wanted to bring more life into my happy family. About 8 months ago I realized that desire was gone. I suddenly didn't want kids. Not only was it gone but it had been replaced by an insatiable need to experience life. I was in the middle of a quarter life crisis.

I was, and always have been a grown up. Mike and I owned a house, he was a manager at the company he worked for, I held a respected position at the high school I worked for and I hated every fucking second of it. We never went out, I had no friends, and he managed to suck every free moment I had from me. I reached out into the world hoping to find something to fill the growing void in my soul.

I started going out, finding things to do to occupy my mind and time. Before too long Mike started getting jealous again. He didn't want to spend his time with anyone but me and I desperately needed other people. He had taken over every part of my life, even my parents. I was choking and I couldn't breathe. The vibrant person I used to be had been replaced by this sad unhappy one. I tried to tell him once. I tried to tell him how I was feeling and he started crying again. He cried for like two days. He said things like, "Who am I going to talk to talk to?" and , "How could you be so cold, you're not even crying!" In my best unfeeling tone I told him I loved him and that we could work on our relationship. I had pushed so much inside, I knew by the time we talked I was merely an empty shell.

So here I am, 6 months later. I am now an assistant principal and use that to my full advantage. I spend lots of extra hours in my office working or reading, anything to avoid going home. Some nights I "work" until 10pm hoping Mike will be too tired to talk by the time I got home. My resentment towards him is at all time high. Every time he hugs me I want to scream. Every time he kisses me I want to cry. It is at a place where every touch feels dirty and makes me uncomfortable. I think he knows how I'm feeling on some level and his physical possessiveness has increased. Whenever we are in the car he keeps his warm disgusting hand on my leg, no matter how I fidget or squirm. More than once I considered ripping his hand right off his fucking wrist.

I have resigned myself to this life. I do my best to get through every day because I know I don't have the strength to leave. I know this is all I am meant for. I continue to go through my days unfeeling and empty.

I had no idea it was all about to change.

******************

I walked into our regular principal's meeting ready for another day of whining and complaining, mostly from the elementary principals. I sat in my usual seat and glanced over the agenda. Today, the new district fine arts director was being introduced. I assumed it would be some flighty artsy person who only understood their craft and not the political world of education. I simply sighed and booted up my computer, hoping I could at least be somewhat productive during the meeting.

The superintendent droned on and on before he finally began speaking about the newbie. I wasn't paying much attention while the newcomers resume was described to the room and couldn't be bothered to lift my eyes from my laptop screen when the introduction was finally made.

That was until he spoke.

In the same instant the words left his mouth my head shot up to seek out the owner of the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.

"Hello everyone, I'm Edward Cullen. I have been assured that this district finds value in a fine arts program and I am going to do my best to help build one you can all be proud of. I am very excited to be working here and I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you."

I'm sure I was being paranoid but as he vowed to get to know each of us I swear his eyes were focused on mine. He was absolutely stunning. His bronze hair stuck up in the most perfect of ways. His green eyes were deep and soulful and his lips were turned up into a sexy crooked grin. As if they had a mind of their own my fingers began sliding my wedding band off my hand. All too quickly the ring found its new home in my front pocket. I knew I should feel guilty but I just couldn't muster up the fucking energy. This man was managing to stir more emotion in me with a simple look than my husband had managed in years.

He sat down and the meeting progressed. I found myself staring at him more often than I should have. Every now and then he would catch me looking. He just smiled at me, making my heart race and my cheeks flame. I tried to stay focused on my laptop but he was just so much better to look at. The next time I chanced a peek I found he had been looking at me. I quirked an eyebrow at him and he just grinned and shrugged a perfect shoulder.

I more than welcomed the heat I could feel spreading between my legs. It had been so long since I had been attracted to Mike and it was making me feel like a giddy teenager. In my hard up state, the mere look on Edward's perfectly chiseled face was almost enough to bring me over the edge.

The meeting finally ended and I noticed Edward moving in my direction. I also noticed my thumb was absentmindedly rubbing the spot my wedding ring used to occupy.

_I can't do this._

I gathered my belongings and ran out the door as quickly as possible. By the time I reached my car I was so hot and bothered I knew I would have to relieve the excess tension building in me as soon as I got home. I only hoped Mike wouldn't be there.

************

**A/N - Please leave a review, let me know what you think!**


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